And coming from that perspective I found one exchange during last week’s Alpharetta City Council candidate forum particularly enlightening. At the Alpharetta Business Association forum a question about the current pace and scale of development in Alpharetta was posed to both candidates.

Answering first, Mr. Easterling said he supported the current pace of growth in Alpharetta and that if there were any residents unhappy with what is going on then it is their responsibility to show up for public meetings and speak up. Mr. Burnett’s response to the same question was that in his time on the Alpharetta Planning Commission he had seen hundreds of residents show up to speak out about zoning issues only to have their views ignored so he was running to give them a voice.

I was reminded of the candidates’ very different perspectives yesterday when I received an email from two Alpharetta residents who consider themselves some of the ignored residents Ben Burnett spoke about. They are just a typical couple who care about their community and feel their views are not reflected by many recent decisions of their mayor and city council.

Neither of them have ever run for office. They don’t depend on developers to keep a roof over their heads or fund their political campaigns. They have nothing to gain by speaking out about a city council race other than the satisfaction of making their voices heard when it counts.

So I decided to post their letter here:

Why We’re Voting for BURNETT for Alpharetta City Council

We met Ben Burnett through his service on the Planning Commission, and we think he’ll be a great addition to our City Council as a true voice for homeowners (rather than developers). With the phenomenal level of new (and large, and dense) developments recently approved, he sees the need for a more balanced approach to growth, and he wants to make future decisions to guide Alpharetta in the right direction while keeping in mind the best interests of residents.

While you may not see many signs on public rights-of-way (or in developers, contractors, and other businesses yards) for Burnett, you’ll see them in residents’ yards, as his message is resonating loud and clear with Alpharetta residents. The vast majority of residents feel the current growth is too much, too fast.

While recent newspaper articles tout there’s room to grow in Alpharetta and state that all this development meets the goals of the comprehensive land use plan, these articles have quoted developers and nearby businesses as to their support of all the recent rezoning and high density development. The comprehensive land use plan provides suggestions and guidelines.

From what we’ve heard from residents, it’s not that they’re anti-growth, it’s that the amount of development is getting out of control, and the city is approving one application after the other without first knowing the repercussions from the current rezonings that are still under construction and the additional approved ones that haven’t even been started yet.

In addition to Burnett’s emphasis on a more balanced approach to growth, we appreciate his emphasis and outlook on property tax breaks for residents and addressing much-needed transportation solutions. We need Burnett to provide a fresh voice on the Alpharetta City Council!

Below is the agenda for the April meeting of the Alpharetta Planning Commission. The meeting will take place Wednesday at Alpharetta City Hall at 6:30 p.m. If you cannot attend in person but would like to watch the broadcast live you can find it at this link.

If you have questions or constructive comments please feel free to post them in the comments section of this post and I will do my best to respond in a timely fashion.

Consideration of a request to rezone approximately 12.4 acres from O-I (Office Institutional) to R-8A/D (Dwelling, ‘For-Sale’, Attached/Detached Residential) in order to develop 61 ‘For-Sale’ detached homes in a gated community. A master plan amendment to the KB400 Master Plan Pod A is requested to add ‘Dwelling, ‘For-Sale’ Detached’ to the list of permitted uses. A Comprehensive Land Use Plan amendment is requested to change the designation of the property from ‘Corporate Office’ to ‘High Density Residential’. Variances are requested to reduce the minimum lot width and setbacks. The property is located at the southwest corner of Kimball Bridge Road and North Point Parkway and is legally described as being located in Land Lots 807, 808, 849 & 850, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

Consideration of a request for master plan amendment to the Cousins Westside Master Plan Pod Q to allow for the construction of a 40,000 square foot office building. A variance is requested to reduce the required amount of parking. The property is located at 9115 Westside Parkway and is legally described as being located in Land Lot 690, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

Consideration of text amendments to the Unified Development Code addressing ‘Hotel’ definitions and associated modifications to the list of permitted uses, reduce front setback requirements for certain North Main Street properties, Site Grading and Land Disturbance, as well as other miscellaneous amendments.

Below is the agenda for the December meeting of the Alpharetta Planning Commission.

The meeting will take place Thursday at Alpharetta City Hall at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to watch the meeting broadcast live or if you would like to review all of the supporting materials for each case you can find them at this link. I have previously written about the high density mixed use proposal on Devore Road and you can find that article here.

If you have questions or constructive comments please feel free to post them in the comments section of this post and I will do my best to respond in a timely fashion.

This item has been deferred by the Applicant. It will not be heard on December 1, 2016.

Consideration of a request to amend the Peridot (A.K.A. MetLife) Master Plan to allow 430 ‘For-Rent’ residential units, 70 ‘For-Sale’ townhome units, 51,200 square feet of retail/restaurant use, 664,400 square feet of office use, and up to a 200-room hotel. The master plan amendment also includes changes to previous conditions of zoning. A rezoning is requested on 15.51 acres from O-I (Office-Institutional) to MU (Mixed-Use) and conditional uses to allow ‘Dwelling, ‘For-Rent’ use and a bank or savings and loan use. A variance is requested to eliminate the requirement for retail under ‘For-Rent’ residential use on 2 sides of each ‘For-Rent’ building. The property is located on the west side of Haynes Bridge Road south of Lakeview Parkway and is legally described as Land Lots 744, 745, 752, and 753, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

b. Z-16-13/CU-16-20/V-16-27 Perling/13 South Main Street/DT-MU

Consideration of a request to rezone 12.913 acres from C-2 (General Commercial) to DT-MU (Downtown Mixed-Use) in order to develop 36,000 square feet of retail/restaurant use 60,500 square feet of brewery, 30,000 square feet of office use, 64 ‘For-Sale’ townhome units, 50 ‘For-Sale’ condominium units and 200 ‘For-Rent’ residential units. A conditional use is requested to allow ‘For-Rent’ residential use and to allow a residential density of 24.317 dwelling units per acre. A variance is requested from UDC Section 2.7.0(b) to delete the requirement for an on-site neighborhood grocery, as well as variances from UDC Appendix A, Alpharetta Downtown Code to increase the allowable height, allow a different architectural style, increase the maximum building setback, and increase the maximum façade length. The property is located at 13 South Main Street and is legally described as Land Lots 693, 694, 695, and 696, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

Consideration of a request to rezone approximately 2.9 acres from R-12 (Dwelling, ‘For-Sale’ Residential) and DT-LW (Downtown Live-Work) to MU (Mixed-Use) in order to develop 48 ‘For-Sale’ condominium units and 36,000 square foot office building. A master plan amendment is requested to the Old Milton Holdings Master Plan to change previous conditions of zoning and add property to the master plan. The property is located at the southwest corner of Thompson Street and Park Street and is legally described as being located in Land Lot 749, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia

Consideration of a request to change previous conditions of zoning to allow for the expansion of the existing retail center and a freestanding office building. A request for a conditional use permit to allow a dress shop within 25% of an office building in the O-I (Office-Institutional) zoning district. A variance is requested to reduce the front and side setbacks in the O-I zoning district. The property is located at 2225, 2245 and 2255 Old Milton Parkway and is legally described as Land Lot 748, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

Below is the agenda for the October meeting of the Alpharetta Planning Commission. You can click on the highlighted case numbers for more information.

The meeting will take place at Alpharetta City Hall Thursday at 6:30 p.m. If you would like to watch the meeting broadcast live or if you would like to review all of the supporting materials for each case you can find them at this link.

If you have questions or constructive comments please feel free to post them in the comments section of this post and I will do my best to respond in a timely fashion. Please note that the Vision Warriors application which was previously advertised has been deferred by the applicant and will not be heard this month.

Consideration of a request to rezone approximately 13.7 acres from O­I (Office­Institutional) and CUP (Community Unit Plan) to CUP in order to develop 95 townhomes. An amendment to the Windward Master Plan Pod 20A to add ‘Dwelling, ‘For­Sale’ Attached’ to the list of permitted uses is requested, as well as, a change to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan from ‘Corporate Campus Office’ to ‘High Density Residential’. The property is located behind Union Hill Park at the southwest corner of McGinnis Ferry Road and Union Hill Road and is legally described as being located in Land Lots 1038, 1039, 1048 & 1049, 2nd District, 1st Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

Consideration of a request to rezone approximately 1 acre from AG (Agriculture) to R­12 (Dwelling, ‘For­Sale’ Residential) in order to subdivide the property into 3 lots. The property is located at 1530 Rucker Road and is legally described as being located in Land Lot 1273, 2nd District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.

This item has been deferred by the property owner. It will not be heard on October 6, 2016. Consideration of a request for a conditional use to allow a ‘Group Dwelling’ within an existing commercial building. The property is located at 1497/1499 Alpharetta Highway and is legally described as Land Lots 597 and 600, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia

Consideration of a request to rezone 0.3 acres from O­P (Office­Professional) to DT­LW (Downtown Live­Work) in order to develop 3 single­family detached homes. A conditional use is requested to increase the allowable density and a variance from UDC Appendix A, Section 3.7.3 to reduce the minimum lot size for detached homes and a variance from UDC Section 2.5.5 (D) to allow for crushed stone to be used for internal private streets is requested. The property is located at 72 Thompson Street and is legally described as being located in Land Lot 748, 1st District, 2nd Section, Fulton County, Georgia.